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The grey represents the concentration of a molecule. A biomolecular gradient is established by a difference in the concentration of molecules in a biological system such as individual cells, groups of cells, or an entire organism. A biomolecular gradient can exist intracellularly (within a cell) or extracellularly (between groups of cells).
In developmental biology, 'morphogen' is rigorously used to mean a signalling molecule that acts directly on cells (not through serial induction) to produce specific cellular responses that depend on morphogen concentration. This definition concerns the mechanism, not any specific chemical formula, so simple compounds such as retinoic acid (the ...
Sonic hedgehog is a morphogen that patterns the developing embryo using a concentration gradient characterized by the French flag model. [6] This model has a non-uniform distribution of SHH molecules which governs different cell fates according to concentration.
Fick's first law relates the diffusive flux to the gradient of the concentration. It postulates that the flux goes from regions of high concentration to regions of low concentration, with a magnitude that is proportional to the concentration gradient (spatial derivative), or in simplistic terms the concept that a solute will move from a region of high concentration to a region of low ...
Ions travel across cell membranes through channels, pumps or transporters. In channels, they move down an electrochemical gradient to produce electrical signals. Pumps maintain electrochemical gradients. The main type of pump is the Na/K pump. It moves 3 sodium ions out of a cell and 2 potassium ions into a cell.
In cellular biology, active transport is the movement of molecules or ions across a cell membrane from a region of lower concentration to a region of higher concentration—against the concentration gradient. Active transport requires cellular energy to achieve this movement.
In addition to a gradient of the nucleotide bound state of Ran, there is a gradient of the protein itself, with a higher concentration of Ran in the nucleus than in the cytoplasm. Cytoplasmic RanGDP is imported into the nucleus by the small protein NUTF2 (Nuclear Transport Factor 2), where RCC1 can then catalyze exchange of GDP for GTP on Ran.
In developmental biology, pattern formation refers to the generation of complex organizations of cell fates in space and time. The role of genes in pattern formation is an aspect of morphogenesis, the creation of diverse anatomies from similar genes, now being explored in the science of evolutionary developmental biology or evo-devo.